Emotional day for outcast Caleb Ewan who proved doubters wrong with a dominant sprint: "This means a lot..."
Cycling
When Caleb Ewan was outcast from Jayco AlUla (his then team) at the end of the season after leaving Lotto on bad terms a year earlier, not many managers would be willing to bet on the seemingly extinguished sprinter star.
The more did cycling experts and fans alike shook their heads when the rumours spread of INEOS Grenadiers offering a safety net to the Pocket Rocket. However the British has noticed that there is still some spark left in Ewan, who rewarded the team for their trust with a victory on his first race day with the new team.
"There’s no better way [to start]," Ewan said at the line on Tuesday. "I came in knowing my form was pretty good, but when you haven’t raced for so long you have no gauge of where you at."
"This means a lot. The last few months have been hard... it’s the longest time that I’ve gone with no racing in my career, so I honestly didn’t know what to expect," said Ewan, who has been on the sidelines since last September. "I’m just happy that the team gave me so much support and did an amazing job," Ewan said.
No, stage win at 2.1 Italian stage race Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali by far doesn't rank among Ewan's most prestigious victories, but it might as well be the one he'll value the most.
Did he get exclusive leadout? Yes. Was the competition adequate to his reputation? Probably no. Confidence levels? Through the roof.
And it's important for Ewan to regain faith in his own abilities after he was doubted by many in past years, himself included...
In INEOS, he can rely on having absolute support in any sprint stage. Sprints are historically not quite the cup of tea of the British team, yet the support structure for any sprinter is there, just as Kim Heiduk and Ben Swift proved today...
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He didn't beat any top class sprinters in this race so slow the roll!
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- Also, plenty of these dubious characters are actually still very much involved in current teams but nobody seems to care much that they accompany some of the most popular riders.Mistermaumau27-03-2025
- I understand but then again, it’s free and apart from a tsunami of ads, doesn’t hold you hostage to subscribe or share data, not many others offer a quick broad overview like that. If you have time to read everything in-depth you can do the rounds yourself or subscribe to quality material, nothing stops you paying to filter undesired content.Mistermaumau27-03-2025
- It's unlikely he can win, but he'll definitely have fun! Tadej loves and enjoys cycling: his passion, not just his job. Most important thing: he's NOT AFRAID OF LOSING. Other top riders only race if they can win (terror of losing, fragile egos). I adore you Tadej. Stay safe.
maria2024202427-03-2025 - Agreed but kind of off this comes from DGMistermaumau27-03-2025
- He should be pretty capable on technical terrain. His cyclocross bike handling skills are elite, and that is not easy. I do agree he needs some time back on his mtb, as it is a bit different, but if he focuses well on that xco title goal, he can reach it no doubt.JoshuaCharter27-03-2025
- I saw the ending, the riders were all over the place trying to move up. It was only a matter of time till somebody crashed.abstractengineer27-03-2025
- My issue is that this site proactively solicits the commentary of one disgraced doper after another. It's like they can't find anyone who didn't leave the sport under a cloud of shame. I think I'm done with this site.critguy26-03-2025
- The finale of this race was an absolute mess, and the last crash that took out 1/2 of the field was caused when a double width road very suddenly funneled into a single lane, and riders had nowhere to go. I find it amazing how some of these courses get approved in the first place. So much for the UCI's campaign for improved rider safety, because if they actually cared, the organizers wouldn't have been allowed to run the finale on this parcours.
santiagobenites26-03-2025 - I hope Wout can come back. He has had 3 terrible crashes--not on par with Froome or Bernal, but at his level just a fraction of a percent is all that separates the grand champions of this new generation. Even if he is back all the way physically, those abrupt confrontations with pavement and mortality take a psychic toll, especially for a father of young kids.
Barney26-03-2025 - Everyone was so keen on free speech for a while, what happened ;-) But seriously, the problem is not so much that he gave his view as that someone follows it and spreads it, not totally unlike the schoolkids running US war games at present ;-)Mistermaumau26-03-2025